Areas of Expertise

Biography

Dr. Minchao Jin is an assistant professor of social work at the NYU Silver School of Social Work. He got his PhD in social work and MSW from Brown School of Social Work as a McDonnell Scholar at McDonnell International Scholars Academy, Washington University in St. Louis. He also has a bachelor degree of science awarded by Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.

His research areas are global social development and public health, with a particular focus on asset-based approaches and child outcomes. Together with the colleagues at Center for Social Development, Washington University in St. Louis, he assessed the prevalence of asset poverty in China and made relevant policy suggestions. He also conducted research on how families in Africa can use livestock to improve child nutrition. His current work examines the pathways via which household assets may contribute to the nutritional outcomes for preschool children.

Dr. Jin has practice experiences in poverty alleviation and community development in several agencies from both China and the U.S., which include China Women’s Development Foundation (Beijing, China), Fathers’ Support Center of St. Louis (Missouri, U.S.), the Department of Community Development of the City of East St. Louis (Illinois, U.S.), and Rural Reconstruction Center of China Fujian Site (Fujian, China). These experiences enlightened the change of his career from an engineer to a committed social worker.

Dr. Jin values the interactions with students both inside and outside classrooms. His teaching interests include social and economic development, research methods, statistics, social welfare policy, economics of social welfare, program and services evaluation, and child and maternal nutrition.